Justin Trudeau: 'I have more Sikhs in my cabinet than Narendra Modi'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society in Ottawa in November 2015REUTERS/Patrick Doyle

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet is claimed to be one of the most diverse in the world, with equal parts of the 30-person group being male and female, and includes two members with disabilities, two aboriginals and five from visible minorities.

With four of the five Indian-origin ministers being Sikh, Trudeau recently joked about having more cabinet members from the Sikh community than his India counterpart Narendra Modi. He was talking to students at the American University on 11 March, during his visit to the US, when a student commended him for having so many "Punjabis" (members of the Sikh community) in his cabinet. "I have more Sikhs in my cabinet than Modi does," Trudeau quipped.

Harjit Sajjan, a combat veteran with the Canadian Armed Forces was inducted as the defence minister while Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, Small Business Minister Bardish Chagger and Innovation Minister Navdeep Singh Bains were also appointed after Trudeau became PM. Seventeen Sikh MPs were also elected in the Canadian elections held in October 2015.

Prior to taking on his role as prime minister, 44-year-old Trudeau gained favour with the Sikh community in Canada after a video of him dancing the famous "bhangra", during an event organised by the India-Canada Association of Montreal, went viral on YouTube and earned him the sobriquet "Justin Singh Trudeau".